This article is intended to provide the reader with an introduction to two technologies, EMC FAST and NetApp FlashCache. Both of these technologies are intended to improve the performance of storage arrays, while also helping to bend the cost curve of storage downward.

While getting some hands-on time with Iomega’s new 12-drive storage array, I spotted an exciting but unannounced feature: The ix12-300r includes native Avamar backup client! It also includes two PCI Express slots, bringing up intriguing possibilities for future expansion.

I’ve been thinking about FAST and especially FAST v2 but not entirely from a storage point of view. FAST v2 and indeed any automated storage tiering product has some interesting uses beyond storage and could be a basis for a whole new way of managing IT as a service. In fact, it finally enables storage and beyond to managed as a service. BTW I’m going to use FAST as shorthand for any automated storage product; so please don’t take this as only being about EMC.

FAST (FULLY AUTOMATED STORAGE TIERING). FAST made a debut in the storage market yesterday (12/08/09). Finally after the market buzz we got a preview of the product in terms of its features, functionality, characteristics, possible shortcomings and use cases. This blog post focuses on the features, the drawbacks and some applications around FAST. By no means is this a comprehensive or an exhaustive list of the above.

I spent some time today looking at the release notes for Enginuity code 5874.207.166, which presumably is the one that brings the much lauded Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST) into general release on V-Max. Â Just above the FAST paragraph I found the following:
Symmetrix Virtual Provisioning Space Reclamation reduces capacity requirements and total cost of ownership […]

Truly this was one of the most awaited products of 2009 from EMC after the initial announcement by EMC back in April 2009 along with the release of Symmetrix V-Max. Along with FAST, EMC has also introduced some new enhancements to the EMC Symmetrix V-Max, Clariion CX4 and Celerra NS platforms. Currently FAST will be available on the above 3 platforms at debut and will provide automated storage tiering â€œin-the-boxâ€ for Symmetrix V-Max, â€œin-the-boxâ€ for Clariion CX4 and â€œout-of-boxâ€ for Celerra NS platforms.

As you might have read in my earlier blog post, EMC has announced the release of the first version of their product called “Fully Automated Storage Tiering” or in short “FAST”.
Now, to describe the purpose of this technology in a very simple form, we are talking about the performance of your storage and some logic […]

Yesterday, EMC announced Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST), their much hyped and much anticipated storage feature enabling the automated moving of data between tiers of storage on a policy basis.Â However the most notable missing feature in the EMC announcement was the lack of support for legacy DMX-3 and DMX-4 platforms.Â This to me sends […]

It has been an exciting month, some new details are emerging related to automated storage tiering, workload distributions, workflow automation, SLA’s, QoS and how Policy based storage management can help solve these challenges.

So, hereâ€™s my rash statement from Twitter last night: â€œIf FAST isnâ€™t free, I donâ€™t want it! All itâ€™s doing is automating process I could script/do manuallyâ€. Itâ€™s a bold statement, I know, so is FAST really offering something better than what could be achieved today using EMCâ€™s Symmetrix Optimizer?